A lightweight, native macOS application for browsing, culling, and organizing RAW photos - built as a more efficient alternative to Adobe Bridge.
Architecture
- UI: SwiftUI (macOS 14.6+, I might try to support even lower if people need it). AppKit/UIKit for the thumbnails list where SwiftUI performance was poor
- RAW decoding: LibRaw (C++), wrapped via Objective-C++ bridge. CoreImage also used for other formats and as a fallback
- Metadata: EXIF parsed directly from RAW/JPEG binary structures; XMP sidecars read/written for Lightroom/Bridge compatibility
- File system monitoring: FSEvents for real-time folder change detection
- Search: NSMetadataQuery (Spotlight engine) for indexed file/folder search
- Concurrency: Swift6 compliant, a mix of Tasks, OperationQueue, unchecked Sendables
Features
- Multi-root folder browsing - add any number of folders from local disks, external drives, or SD cards; no import step, no managed library
- Real-time file system monitoring - new photos, deletions, and folder structure changes are detected and reflected immediately
- Supported files - all the RAWs and images known to macOS, plus svg and Affinity
- Rating and color labeling - written to XMP sidecars (RAW) or embedded directly into the file without re-encoding (JPEG/HEIC), compatible with Adobe Bridge and Lightroom
- Rejection workflow - a session-scoped label (not persisted across folder changes) for marking photos to delete; batch-delete via right-click
- JPG/RAW pair deduplication - when a RAW+JPEG pair exists, only the RAW is shown in the grid
- Two grid layouts - compact grid (more room for preview) and large grid (more room for thumbnails)
- Spotlight-backed search - search across files and folder names using the macOS indexing engine
- SD card ingest - copy photos into date-based folder structures, with optional simultaneous backup to a second destination
- Duplicate/similar photo detection - Review mode for quickly resolving near-duplicate burst shots
- Instagram frame export - frame 2:3 images into a 3:4 canvas, exported as TIFF to avoid re-encoding loss (useful for Camera Raw edits which cannot add frames)
- Export video - select multiple photos from the same sequence and export a cool video
- Offline client proofing - export PDF -> client ticks some checkboxes to mark his favourites -> import the PDF back to filter the selected photos
Comparison with Adobe Bridge (2022 version)
Where Imagin RAW is better
| Imagin RAW | Bridge | |
|---|---|---|
| App size | ~9 MB | ~2 GB |
| Idle CPU | 0% | 1-2% |
| Memory | 200MB to scroll through 1300 thumbnails | 2GB for the same album |
| Memory release | Released when switching albums | Adds up when switching albums |
| Launch time | Instant | Seconds |
| Scrolling | Native, smooth | Row-by-row, hard to control |
| External drive eject | No app restart needed (unless video selected) | Requires quitting Bridge |
Where Bridge is better
- Camera Raw–processed previews - Bridge renders thumbnails with ACR adjustments applied. Imagin RAW currently shows the embeded jpegs in a raw; replicating the ACR pipeline isn't feasible, although basic adjustments and crop will be explored.
Roadmap
- See the open Issues
- An iOS version as an alternative to the cluttered Photos app is in development.
Screenshots
Keyboard Shortcuts
- Arrow Keys - Navigate between photos
- CMD A - Select all photos
- CMD Click / Shift+Click - Multi-select photos
- CMD Del - Move photos to trash
- CMD Z - Undo photos moved to trash
- 1-5 - Set Star Rating
- 6-0 - Apply Labels
- - - Remove label
- A - Approve photos (same as the 8 key)
- X / Del - Reject photos
- OPT 1-5 - Filter by Star Rating
- OPT 6-0 - Filter by Labels
- OPT X - Filter by Rejected
- C - Toggle Sidebar
- G - Toggle Grid Type
- Z - Toggle Zoom
- Return - Open selected photo(s) in external editor
System Requirements
- macOS 14.6 or later
- Apple Silicon or Intel processor
Installation
- Buy from the AppStore if you want to support the project and receive updates automatically
- Download the latest release from Releases. The app does not update itself and does not announce you for updates either
- Compile from source code, there should be no surprises
Contributions
- Reporting issues and ideas are welcome.
- The code faces multiple random refactorings right now, not the best time to contribute with code.